Startup Weekend Conejo Valley 2019: A Recap

Giving back to the Hub101 and the greater Conejo Valley community has been a huge initiative for the PureSpectrum team. Events like Startup Weekend encourage, nurture and foster unique innovation that adds to the economic growth of the area.

On Friday, PureSpectrum CEO Michael McCrary talked to the teams about the challenges of starting his own business, but how success is achievable through commitment and hard work. With 50+ employees all around the world, PureSpectrum has grown from one solopreneur at a table in Hub101 to a company revolutionizing how market research looks at sample automation.

“Startup Weekend holds an addictive quality, and it’s just not something you can get enough of. It is always a pleasure coming back to where I once called home to be blown away by the creativity of this community.” – Molly Strawn, PureSpectrum Marketing Manager

Molly Strawn (kneeling, front left), PureSpectrum’s Marketing Manager, has participated in several Startup Weekend and New Venture competitions as an alumna of California Lutheran University. In addition to supporting the PureSpectrum premium sponsorship and recruiting for the company at the event, this is the second year she has returned as a mentor to provide guidance to teams throughout the weekend.

“An idea has infinite potential if we just take inhibition out of the equation, and I think that is what Startup Weekend is all about; providing and nurturing these innovative minds with a safe space to think and act fearlessly.” – Sushma Vasudevan, PureSpectrum Vice President of Data Science and Analytics

Sushma Vasudevan, PureSpectrum Vice President of Data Science and Analytics, joined the judges panel on final pitch day Sunday evening. She had the opportunity to hear all of the presentations and collaborate with the judges to select the final winners:

First Place: College Bound, a virtual college tour app enlisting current college students to give tours to high school students looking for the right college.

Second Place: Halcyon, a peer-to-peer lending app allowing investors to buy student loans and invest in each student personally.

Third Place: Nroll, a company working to pair potential clinical trial candidates to the right trials for them.

Honorable Mention: UConnect, a company focused on pairing current college students to high school student so to give them the full scope understanding of life at that college, allowing them to make the right college choice.

It is so important to the PureSpectrum team to support the bright minds of the community it was founded in through time and sponsorships, and we will continue to do so. PureSpectrum is a rapidly growing research automation platform based in Los Angeles, CA. The company was founded in 2015 by industry veterans who knew there was a better way to sample. We are committed to providing our clients with automated technology to maximize quality, ease of use and speed to insights.